Faithventure Forum

But work well done is also bounded by times of rest. As we ready to start a long Labor Day weekend, this prayer reflects the beauty of both work and rest: Let me but do my work from day to day,    In field or forest, at the desk or loom,  In roaring market-place, or tranquil room;  Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, “This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;  Of all who live, I am the one by whom  This work can best be done, in the right way.”  Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,  To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;  Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,  And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall  At eventide, to play and love and rest,  Because I know for me my work is best.   Poems of Sentiment: VI. Labor and Rest Henry van Dyke 

Tim Keller's has written a wonderful new book  Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work  that provides an excellent framework for what it means to be a Christian in our work. This book is a valuable resource for young Christians beginning to chart their life in the work world. But it also can be useful for older followers of Christ moving into the second half of life and asking questions about significance. I love the following quote which summarizes the book: Everyone wants to be successful rather than forgotten, and everyone wants to make a difference in life. But that is beyond the control of any of us. If this life is all there is, then everything will eventually burn up in the death of the sun and no one will even be around to remember anything that has ever happened. Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavors, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and th...

"There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say "It is yet more difficult than you thought." This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings." — Wendell Berry in Poetry and Marriage

If you are an idea person and you are passionate about creating opportunity for ex-offenders, you could win $25,000. Some friends of mine with a passion for employing individuals rebuilding lives from prison in the New York City area are hosting a unique contest with the potential to impact thousands of ex-offenders in the future. And you don't need to write a business plan. All you have to do is fill out an online idea submission form describing your idea, the problem it solves, the customers, and the competition. But you need to hurry. The deadline is February 15, 2010. More details are available at www.ideasforimpact.com .

U.S. Chamber of Commerce just held an "I am Free Enterprise" video contest for entrepreneurs. Watch these videos and be inspired. I especially like how in the first video, Carlos Sanchez links his business with helping his disadvantaged neighborhood. If you follow this blog, you know I am passionate about faith ventures: businesses that create opportunity for individuals or communities rebuilding lives. All three of these stories tell of how business opportunities grew out of individual experiences. It's always been my hope to inspire others to seize opportunity in their day to day life to help people and neighborhoods through urban business as mission.

Faithventure Forum was started in August of 2008 to encourage the creation of businesses to employ individuals or communities rebuilding lives from poverty, addiction, or prison. Here's a list of the ten most popular posts since the start of this community: #1: Mattress Recycling: A Faith Venture Business as Ministry Idea #2: Belay Enterprises: Incubating Faith Ventures & Connecting Entrepreneurs with Business as Ministry Opportunities #3: AT&T Commercial Focuses on Faith Venture Toms Shoes #4: Faith Venture Focus Events: Oct. 16 and Nov. 6, 2008 #5: Business as Mission: Unleashing the Enthusiasm of Christ-Following Entrepreneurs #6: The Insurance Issues of Hiring Ex-Offenders #7: Reducing Recidivism: The Importance of Employment #8: Faithventure Forum Introduction #9: Neil Johnson’s Business as Mission Book Hits the Stores while His Student Assists Denver Area Urban BAM. #10: Business as Mission 101 at CCDA Conference

If you didn't realize it yet, the social media revolution is here. Opportunities abound for the creation of new business ventures and social enterprise solutions to the worlds biggest problems. Watch this video and be inspired: Thanks to Jeff Cornwall of The Entrepreneurial Mind and his colleague Jennie Bowman for passing this along.

Community-Wealth.org , a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland, profiles Belay Enterprises this spring in its latest Community Wealth City overview on Denver : "Denver is also home to other notable community wealth initiatives. The Urban Land Conservancy contributes to the surrounding community in a variety of ways, helping to secure land so that it remains affordable for schools, affordable housing, and office space for non-profits, while also providing financing and coordination to local community projects and initiatives. Another organization, Belay Enterprises, founded Bud's Warehouse, a career and life-skills training social enterprise that employs individuals rebuilding their lives from addiction, homelessness, or prison. Bud's Warehouse has since become a successful home improvement store and has now expanded to three additional locations." ( More ) I am excited that our organization was unexpectedly included in this article a...

"The point of the resurrection...is that the present bodily life is not valueless because it will die. God will raise it to new life. What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it... What you do in the present--by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbors as yourself--will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day we leave it behind altogether...They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom." N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope , Harper One, 2008, p. 193.

I like a good idea. And today I discovered at least two great ones. My entrepreneurial friend Scott Yates, who sold his start up a few years ago to Traffic.com, detailed his close encounters with Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban . It seems that Mark wants to create an economic stimulus plan that actually creates new businesses . He has invited aspiring entrepreneurs to post their ideas open source style to his blog. He will commit to funding the best ones. Scott took the challenge and posted an idea called Second Saturday Science. Mark liked the concept and has been communicating with Scott throughout the day. By the way, Scott was a valued participant during our second Faithventure Focus Event this past fall. I wonder if Mark Cuban would have any interest in a venture idea that would use a sustainable business to create opportunity for individuals rebuilding lives? If you have such an idea, maybe it is time to share.

It appears that President Obama plans to take a more nuanced position on faith-based hiring provisions than he declared on the campaign trail this past fall. In a recent post , I shared how removing President Bush's allowance for limiting management hires to a particular religion would in many ways take the faith out of faith-based initiatives. Now, Obama seems to agree and is poised to announce a willingness to evaluate such issues on a case-by-case basis. This is a wise decision and extends what may be President Bush's biggest legacy . As we develop new faith venture businesses that employ individuals rebuilding lives from addiction, homelessness and prison, this allows us to continue seeking government investment for start-up funds. "Mr. Obama's goal, much like President George W. Bush's, is to harness the power of churches and other religious groups to solve some of the nation's toughest social problems. But almost from the start, the Bush plan was ensnare...

(As with all posts on this blog, these thoughts reflect my opinion and not necessarily the views of my organization.) The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives just released a final report on its performance as the Bush administration prepares to leave office next week. The report makes a convincing argument for the continuation of this program under the Obama administration. I think President Bush’s emphasis on breaking down barriers between government and the faith-based community has translated into real benefits for society. Though Belay Enterprises has never directly sought out funding from government agencies, we indirectly have been beneficiaries of this shift in philosophy. Over the last 8 years, I have seen a definite growing willingness of government agencies at local and national levels to work with faith organizations. President Bush’s initiative gave permission for agencies to move dollars and to collaborate with the programs that were having the mos...

I hope you had a relaxing and fun holiday season. Now, bring on the New Year! I like New Year's day because it feels like grace...a time to start-over. I am trusting that God will provide new faith venture opportunities for individuals and communities rebuilding lives in 2009. I have been taking some time off from regular blogging in December but I'm excited to restart the conversation about faith ventures in the coming days. I look forward to learning more together. Blessings- James Reiner

Brokeness is often the path to rebirth. We live by that wisdom in our faithventure business Bud's Warehouse . In a CNN editorial, Chuck Colson, who went to prison for Watergate crimes, shares how brokeness led to a changed life . He captures the spirit we try to share with individuals rebuilding lives from alcoholism, addiction, felony conviction and homelessness. When we reach the end of ourselves, through failure or sin, we find God. Chuck Colson went on to found Prison Fellowship , a group we have worked with at times over the last 10 years.

I want to add my voice to the growing chorus of people amazed by a new movie in limited release. Slumdog Millionaire has jumped to the top of my all-time favorite movies. I would be surprised if this movie doesn’t sneak up and become the best picture for the upcoming Academy Awards. I saw the movie two nights ago and I have been unable to shake the storyline, images and music from my mind. It’s a brutal modern Oliver Twist meets Who Wants to Be A Millionaire that captures the deep contradictions of the culture of India where social class clashes with middle class mobility. It’s jarring but it’s also deeply satisfying in that it speaks to that deep human desire that wants to know that deep injustices will be made right and that love will overcome. India is a country on the rise but it’s also a place that needs faith ventures and saints like Mother Theresa.

Today, I came upon a fascinating post in Andy Crouch’s Culture Making Blog . Throughout my writings, I hope it comes through how much I value the healing nature of redemptive social networks. On the flip side, negative social networks can be corrosive as this study shows that the more time spent away from Las Vegas reduces one’s risk for suicide.